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EXECUTIVE EDITOR BOB GRITZINGER: If fuel economy is your primary concern, the 2011 Toyota Highlander hybrid is the only three-row SUV that puts up this kind of mileage numbers. I drove it about 80 miles without the gas gauge even moving--try that in your (fill in the blank) SUV. The interior is fairly upscale, with an excellent and accurate voice-activated navigation system, comfortable heated seats and nice-looking trim throughout. Curiously, the car lacks automatic climate control, but at least the controls are large and simple.

You do have to accept its shortcomings, including the fact that its styling evokes a 10-year-old Chevrolet TrailBlazer, it rolls like a waterlogged boat (no doubt because of battery weight), and it costs nearly as much as a nonhybrid all-wheel-drive Chevy Suburban. And you still have to deal with the odd off-on-off-on hybrid power delivery at a steady cruising speed that is enough to drive you batty. Oddly, that hybrid rocking motion seems to disappear with cruise control on.

Bottom line: If you need the seating and 28 mpg, this is your vehicle. But if you can give up some fuel economy, there are many choices--some significantly better overall--at about the 20-mpg mark.

DIGITAL EDITOR ANDREW STOY: Let me get this straight, Toyota: For $46,000 and change, you're going to give me a 2.5-row crossover (the rear seats are marginal at best, even for this category) with no automatic climate control, no power passenger's seat, a gimmicky, hard-plastic-laden interior and comically poor performance?

Yes, but it has hybrid synergy drive!

Uh-huh. And that will be enough for some. But for consumers who place value for the dollar roughly in line with fuel efficiency, the Highlander hybrid simply has nothing to offer.

Take the interior, for example. I'm not sure what crossover Bob was sitting in, but the Highlander hybrid that I drove over the long Thanksgiving weekend had a dash surface made from some plastic composite that was textured to feel exactly like a chalkboard (you could even leave white streaks in it with your fingernails). The heated seats apparently had an eco mode, being so weak we just left them on high all the time despite lovely 60-degree weather. And, just to be clear, I'm not a gadget snob, but at this price point, the lack of automatic climate control and full power front seating is inexcusable. I will concur that the controls were indeed large, so if fan-speed-knob diameter is a key purchase consideration for you, then the Highlander might make the cut.

Wind and road noise were about average for the class, but the Highlander's electric power steering is an example of the worst of a still-evolving technology. Assist moves from too slow to overboosted at low speeds, and it's twitchy on the highway.

As for the vaunted hybrid synergy drive, I was floored when I discovered that the Highlander hybrid was a V6. Electric assist is slow to arrive, the engine feels weak unless the pedal is matted, and the aural experience is as droning and unpleasant as one would expect from a 4,600-pound 4x4 with a CVT. Electric operation was only available up to about 15 mph, and despite the dash button invoking EV mode, it refused to engage in a wide variety of situations (simply saying "EV mode is not available") with no explanation.

Even when I did manage to engage EV mode, any sort of throttle application one would deem necessary to get a heavy crossover moving would add engine power, along with a chiding dash message that EV mode had been disengaged because of "excessive acceleration." Considering that the Chevy Tahoe hybrid was perfectly content puttering in all-electric mode in similar situations, I suspect Toyota's hybrid system is not fully up to the task of moving the big AWD Highlander effectively.

Is there anything I liked about the Highlander hybrid? Not really. Even the styling is drab and uninspired, with the reworked front end looking like something the designers were working on before taking a lunch break but forgetting to finish upon their return.

Quite simply there is no--I mean zero--reason to consider the Highlander hybrid, even at its $38,000 base price. The Ford Explorer, the Honda Pilot and even the regular four-cylinder Toyota Highlander offer so much more vehicle for the money, there's no contest. If you have a big family and have to have a hybrid synergy drive badge in the garage, get two Toyota Priuses. You'll still be ahead in the long run.